On July 21st 2017 Friday, a report by United Nations stated that North Korea faced alarming food shortage after being hit by its drastic dry spell of the history since 2001.
The state official said, “It is the worst drought in our history.”
Every second day North Korea exploded missile Bastille experiments that had been affected the crop production which hampered by the prolonged dry period and food imports needed urgently.
UN warned North Korea, “Crop production in the country has been impeded by a long drought and food imports are now required to fill the gap.”
The report stated, “The most vulnerable, such as children and the elderly, will be worst hit. In the 1990s, hundreds of thousands of North Koreans are believed to have died during a widespread famine.”
On Thursday, UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said, “The latest drought is serious. Bilateral food aid to the country has dramatically fallen in recent years. This is due in part to sanctions implemented to punish North Korea over its weapons development program.”
The UN’s World Food Program (WFP) has also seen a steep drop in contributions, the agency said, “A persistent lack of rainfall in North Korea in recent months has decimated staple crops such as rice, maize, potatoes and soybean, which many of the country’s citizens depend on during the lean season that stretches from May to September.”
State news agency KCNA said, “Main rice-growing provinces had been badly affected and more than 30% of rice paddies were “parching up”.”
According to experts from the FAO quoted, “In key crop-producing areas, rainfall from April to June 2017 was well below the long-term average.”
The report added, “The harvesting of crops from the early season, including wheat, barley and potatoes, has also been affected.”
The FAO estimated, “The production of 2017 early season crops has plunged by over 30% from the previous year’s level of 450,000 tonnes to 310,000 tonnes.”
Analysts said, “May be one day North Korea becomes the world largest Nuclear State but no one would be remain alive to rule the country.”
The News Agency said, “Water levels of reservoirs stand at their lowest, while rivers and streams are getting dry.”
Reporter: Syeda Faiza Bukhari
